Search - Dirty Three :: She Has No Strings Apollo

Swirling, lovely

Digby | Guatemala City, Guatemala | 07/24/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm having a hard time getting this out of my cd rotation. "She Has No Strings" is about the most compelling violin music I've ever heard. The sound violinist Warren Ellis produces is so, so sad. Aching, sorrowful. Guitarist Mick Turner's guitar companion piece, which near the end overtakes the violin, cries for release. At the end, both violin and guitar are weeping. Jim White's drumming on this is almost militaristic, but perfect for keeping everything tightly together.This was my first exposure to Dirty Three and I have to say, I like what I hear. Rich, emotive storytelling music without the words. Try it."

A Slight Slip

paco | Melbourne | 10/05/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There are a couple of wonderful tracks on this one. She Has No Strings is a whirling and tremendously powerful piece and the aptly titled Long Way To GO With No Punch is a truly beautiful piece that could roll and roll for hours without tiring the listener. But somehow the magic of Whatever You Love You Are and Ocean Songs, and even their rawer early effort Horse Stories, has deserted this record. Perhaps there is too much reliance on minimalist techniques of repetition - the music never seems to find those secret and entirely unexpected places that make the aforementioned records unique. They performed a big tour on the back of this one so perhaps there was a tendency to find music that would sound big on stage, thus the subtlety and complexity of arrangements on, say, Whatever You Love You Are has necessarily gone missing. I don't know. I only know that the Dirty Three are one of the very few makers of music in this world who matter and we who love them cannot help but expect much."

OK, but not their best

07/06/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This album started off strong with the first song, but then it started to drag and drag for a bit, I'm usually very patient with bands like the Dirty Three and their albums, but this one seemed a bit mediocre, atleast for their standards. Go buy 'Horse Stories' or 'Ocean Songs' instead of this and see them live if you can, they are great."